tear off
/tɛəɹ ɒf/
"tear-off" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tear off” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To rip away from; to pull a piece from forcibly.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tear-off · tear off · English
tear off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tear off |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /tɛəɹ ɒf/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tear off” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tear off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /tɛəɹ ɒf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
tear off has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is tear off, spelled T-E-A-R- -O-F-F.
Definition
- 1To rip away from; to pull a piece from forcibly.
- 2To become detached by tearing or ripping.
- 3To leave or depart rapidly.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tear off appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Do not tear off the price tag if you want to return that shirt.
The fugitive tore off down the alley.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.